In the third round of the F2 World Championship, the Brazilian driver went fast on the streets of Monaco
This Saturday (27) the third round of the F2 World Championship ended. The double round was carried out on the streets of Monte Carlo in Monaco, and was marked by the debut of the Brazilian driver, Sérgio Sette Câmara (PREDATOR Acer | SANEPAV | TAESA | BELL), in the most traditional street circuit in the world.
One of his specialties are street races, a factor evidenced by the good results of Sérgio in Pau (FRA) and Macau (CHI), while still competing for F3, the Brazilian driver naturally cultivated a good expectation regarding his results in the two races this weekend.
With a different schedule from the other stages of the Championship, the activities in Monaco began on Thursday, with free practice and the qualifiers. Sérgio, despite having done several simulator sessions to get to know the track, had never effectively driven through the streets of the principality, so he used every second of the only free practice to assimilate the details of the circuit and prepare the car for classification.
In the qualifiers, when he started with his first set of tyres, the driver believed to have a good car and was leading the session at one point. But moments later, he began to feel a problem that would not allow him to do quick laps and unfortunately, he got the last position on the grid.
In a track almost impossible to overtake, Sergio and the team worked hard on a good strategy, and with that they tackled the first race, which was on Friday morning. After a good start Sérgio gained two positions and went on to follow the group in the 18th place. Still not having a good pace Sette Câmara at least managed to accompany the group. Then the strategy began to make a difference. With a premature pit stop the driver put on soft tyres and headed for the track. Two laps later, in a safety car situation, several cars went to the pits and, with that, the Brazilian won several positions. With very little chance to overtake the opponents the 19-year-old managed to gain several positions. Six laps to the end, the safety car comes in again and, in the re-release, Sette Câmara was already in the 10th place. At this point, already in the scoring zone, the driver was still trying to get the ninth place when, suddenly, a piece of his car broke down and he had to abandon the race.
“Our car had the differential broken since the free practice, the team only managed to detect the problem after the qualifier, that’s why I did so badly. “The car did not turn right in the corners, it seemed that they had fixed it for the race, but they did not fix it completely, so the piece could not resist the whole race and the semi-axle broke down. I was very disappointed “, explained the driver.
Last Saturday the second race was disputed. Sergio, starting again from the end of the group, did not have much expectation. In a race where the pit stop was not mandatory, it was difficult to devise a strategy to recover positions. After a good start, once again, the driver gained a position and managed to be next to the group. The highlights of the race were during the first half of the laps when, under pressure from Championship leader Charles Leclerc, Sérgio managed to secure his position and gave no chance of overtaking to the Monegasque driver. Even with a car that did not have a good performance, Sette Câmara managed to stay on track until the end and received the checkered flag in the 14th place.
“I really was very disappointed this weekend.The team did not managed to solve the problem of the differential and that did not allow me to race well at any time of the weekend. I could not do a good job. I can only try to learn from it and use it in the next few years. Now I have to think about the Azerbaijan race, which will be in one month, “he added.
RADIO WITH THE TEAM WENT VIRAL ON THE INTERNET
A fact related to Sérgio also moved the specialized websites this weekend. A broadcast of his radio talk with the team during Friday’s race, generated embarrassment for some and outrage for others. “The one who was on the radio with me at the time was my coach Tom Dilmann. It was just a part of the conversation and it was my duty to transmit to the team what was happening with the car. Above all, Tom and I are good friends and between us the communication is very informal. I do not think there was anything wrong with it and if they had not broadcasted it, I certainly would not even remember it after the race, “he explained, very calmly.